Monster Riesling Tasting

WINE TALK
1

On saturday the famous collector Karl-Heinz Frackenpohl invited for a Riesling Tasting of the vintage 2009. 50 Grosse Gewächse were presented blind to a group of wine-dealers, journalists, winemakers and Riesling-freaks. At the end some rare Riesling legends were presented too.

Winner: 2009 Emrich-Schönleber “Halenberg” GG

  1. 09 Emrich-Schönleber “Halenberg” GG
  2. 09 Dr. Crusius “Felsenberg” GG
  3. 09 Dönnhoff “Hermannshöhle” GG

2

Here are the wines presented:

Schloss Lieser - Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr
Wegeler - Doctorberg
Heymann-Löwenstein - Blaufüßer Lay
M. Molitor - Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese **
M. Grünhaus - Abtsberg Superior
Van Volxem - Scharzhofberg P.
Clemens Busch - Marienburg Raffes
Van Volxem - Altenberg

Künstler - Hölle Sommerheil
Schloss Johannisberg - Johannisberg
Kesseler - Berg Roseneck
Leitz - Schlossberg
Breuer - Schlossberg
Weil - Gräfenberg
Schloss Schönborn - Markobrunnen
Kühn - Schledorn

Diehl - Goldloch
Dönnhoff - Dellchen
Emrich-Schönleber - Frühlingsplätzchen
Dr. Crusius - Felsenberg
Schäfer-Fröhlich - Felseneck
Emrich-Schönleber - Halenberg
Dönnhoff - Hermannshöhle
Emrich-Schönleber - Auf der Ley

Gunderloch - Rothenberg
Kühling-Gillot - Pettenthal
Battenfeld-Spanier - Frauenberg
Wagner-Stempel - Heerkretz
Keller - Abtserde
Wittmann - Brunnenhäuschen
Keller - G-Max
Wittmann - Morstein
FX Pichler - Unendlich

Kranz - Kalmit
Rebholz - Ganz Horn
A. Christmann - Idig
Knipser - Steinbuckel
Koehler-Ruprecht - Saumagen R
Bürklin-Wolf - Jesuitengarten
von Winning - Jesuitengarten
Bürklin-Wolf - Kirchenstück
Knipser - Halbstück R

Extra flight
2007 Prager Klaus Smaragd
2004 Trimbach Clos St. Hune
2004 Koehler-Ruprecht Saumagen R
2007 Wittmann Morstein
2007 Keller G-Max
2007 Van Volxem 1900
2007 Kühn Schledorn
2007 FX Pichler Unendlich
2007 Staatsweingut Steinberger

3

Result of the extra flight:

  1. 2007 Wittmann Morstein 94,4 Punkte
  2. 2007 Keller G-Max 94,2 Punkte
  3. 2004 Koehler-Ruprecht Saumagen R 94 Punkte
  4. 2007 Van Volxem 1900 94 Punkte
  5. 2007 FX Pichler Unendlich 93, 4 Punkte
  6. 2007 Staatsweingut Steinberger 93, 2 Punkte
  7. 2007 Prager Klaus Smaragd 93, 1 Punkte
  8. 2007 Kühn Schledorn 92, 4 Punkte
  9. 2004 Trimbach Clos St. Hune 91, 8 Punkte
4

Ranking:

  1. 93,7 Halenberg GG Emrich-Schönleber
  2. 93,0 Felsenberg GG Dr. Crusius
  3. 93,0 Hermannshöhle GG H. Dönnhoff
  4. 92,3 Jesuitengarten GG von Winning
  5. 92,3 FX Unendlich Smaragd FX Pichler
  6. 92,2 Frühlingsplätzchen GG Emrich-Schönleber
  7. 92,1 Felseneck GG Schäfer-Fröhlich
  8. 92,0 Dellchen GG H. Dönnhoff
  9. 91,9 Altenberg van Volxem
  10. 91,9 Abts E Keller
  11. 91,8 Abtsberg “Superior” M. Grünhaus
  12. 91,8 Dorsheimer Goldloch GG Diel
  13. 91,6 Scharzhofberger P van Volxem
  14. 91,6 Marcobrunn 1. Gew. Schloss Schönborn
  15. 91,4 Brunnenhäuschen GG Wittmann
  16. 91,4 G-max Keller
  17. 91,4 Morstein GG Wittmann
  18. 91,4 Saumagen AL tr. Koehler-Ruprecht
  19. 91,3 Auf der Ley Emrich-Schönleber
  20. 91,3 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Ausl ** M. Molitor
  21. 91,2 Pettenthal GG Kühling-Gillot
  22. 91,0 Heerkretz GG Wagner Stempel
  23. 90,9 Sonnenschein “Ganz Horn” GG Rebholz
  24. 90,9 Kirchenstück GG Bürklin-Wolf
  25. 90,8 Berg Schlossberg A.R. J. Leitz
  26. 90,8 Rothenberg GG Gunderloch
  27. 90,8 Jesuitengarten GG Bürklin-Wolf
  28. 90,6 Uhlen “Blaufüßer Lay” Heymann Löwenstein
  29. 90,5 Berg Rosenheck 1. Gew. Kesseler
  30. 90,5 Gräfenberg 1. Gew. R. Weil
  31. 90,5 Halbstück R Knipser
  32. 90,4 Frauenberg GG Battenfeld-Spanier
  33. 90,4 Steinbuckel GG Knipser
  34. 90,2 Doctorberg Wegeler
  35. 90,2 Idig GG A. Christmann
  36. 89,8 Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Schloss Lieser
  37. 89,8 Ilbersheimer Kalmit Terrassen Kranz
  38. 89,6 Schloss Johannisberger 1. Gew.
  39. 89,4 Hölle “Sommerheil” Künstler
  40. 89,0 Berg Schlossberg Breuer
  41. 88,8 Marienburg “Raffes” Cl. Busch
  42. 87,3 Schlehdorn P.J. Kühn
5

Sounds like you guys really like Nahe for GG wines.

Is there anything you can say in general about the wines you drank?

6

Schönleber is awesome for 2009! Nice tasting by the way.

7

Berry,

it is quite obvious that 2009 is an outstanding vintage in Germany. Such a high quality of dry Rieslings you don´t see often.
But besides dry Rieslings, also the sweet Rieslings I tasted in the last weeks, months are wonderful. So, take your chance and buy RIESLING.
You will find wonderful Mosel Kabinett wines for a little price.

And with view of the regions I would say that Nahe and Rheinhessen are the leading regions for dry Riesling at the moment. Rheingau fall behind in case of dry Riesling, but the sweet are good as always. Mosel show solid dry Rieslings and the sweets are a homerun. Unfortunately we had no Riesling&Silvaner from the region Franken in the tasting, but I tasted outstanding wines in the vintage 2009 from this region. Pfalz makes also very good dry Rieslings, especially the new estate von Winning and of course Bürklin-Wolf. And the legend Koehler-Ruprecht.

Prost,
Martin

8

Baseball fan?

9

NO [truce.gif]

10

Leitz bottled Berg Schlossberg as an Erstes Gewachs? I’m surprised, as I thought he had settled on Rottland as the top dry wine site for the estate. Or does he now have a proliferation of EG bottlings?

11

“Schlossberg” from Leitz is not an Erstes Gewächs in the vintage 2009.

12

So then not all of the 50 wines were GG/EG?

13

YES

G-Max, Schlehdorn, Raffes, Kalmit, Auf der Ley, Schlossberg, Zeltinger Schlossberg etc. are not a GG or EG.

But have the quality of a Grand Cru Riesling.

14

Thanks for the clarification. And I agree on the quality comment (at least for the sites I know - never had wine from Schlehdorn, Raffes or Kalmit).

15

Fascinating to contemplate, Martin, as much for what was left out as for what’s included. Zwar, kein Ungeuher in dieser “Monster” Verkostung!

Does no one in Berlin know of Franken – Ruck, Juliusspital, Horst Sauer, Wirsching, Castell, Bürgerspital, Fürst, Bickel-Stumpf, Schmitt’s Kinder, Löwenstein, etc., etc. in no particular order? And in the regions included, no Karthäuserhof, Peter Lauer, Hermannsberg, Kruger-Rumpf, Flick, Jung, Prinz, Kl. Eberbach, von Bassermann-Jordan, Mosbacher, von Buhl, etc., etc. The depth and richness of Germany is appreciated by so few!

16

Hi Claude,

it was not my tasting and the tasting took place near Cologne. Our host was a famous collector, Karl-Heinz Frackenpohl. BTW, the winemaker Roman N. /Van Volxem also took part.

Prost,
Martin

17

Matin – I left many off my list of not included that also deserved inclusion, and van Volxem was one I considered, although there it was because the style is not completely dry. Great wines, though!

18

The question becomes how big can the tasting get and still be workable? 50 wines is a lot for most people.

19

True. OTOH, it’s kind of like doing a red Burgundy tasting by leaving out Roumier, Rouget, Mugneret-Gibourg, Comte Liger-Belair, d’Angerville, de Courcel, the entire village of Morey, and several others. You may have a lot of good ones in the tasting, but considering what you’ve skipped, what’s the point other than pleasure?

20

Great thread, Martin!

I’d be curious to get your impression of whether any of the GG/EG wines resembled the style of Trimbach’s Clos Ste. Hune? Were you able to detect it as a ringer in the tasting?

Best,

Harry